R3 to Partner with Wells Fargo, ING

BNP Paribas, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, ING, MacQuarie and Wells Fargo are the latest major financial institutions to partner with distributed ledger startup R3CEV, according to a report by Reuters.
With the announcement, R3 brings the number of financial institutions participating in its stealth initiatives to 30, with other major names including Bank of America, BNY Mellon, Citi, HSBC and Morgan Stanley, among others.
In addition, the report suggested bitcoin developer Mike Hearn has been tapped by the R3 team in some capacity, though no further details as to his role at the startup were provided.
Also joining R3 is James Carlyle, a former chief engineer of banking architecture at Barclays.
For more on the banks participating in the program, read our full list of those involved here.